Correctly understand diabetes prevention and treatment. Listen to what experts say

Xinhuanet, Beijing, November 14th. Today is the annual United Nations Diabetes Day. In recent years, the incidence of diabetes has increased, and the patients are showing a trend of younger age. Bad living habits such as high oil and sugar intake and lack of exercise have made diabetes closer and closer to us. We need to recognize the risk of this disease lurking in the "dark corners" of life and reduce the risk of diabetes. Wang Guang, director of the Department of Endocrinology of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, member of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and chief physician, introduced the characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes in an interview with Xinhuanet.

Diabetes is divided into type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and special types of diabetes. The current high prevalence is mainly concentrated in type 2 diabetes. How to judge whether you may have diabetes? Wang Guang said that the high-risk population for type 2 diabetes mainly refers to those who are overweight and obese, have a family history of diabetes, have an unhealthy lifestyle, lack of exercise, and consume a lot of desserts and drinks. When symptoms such as polydipsia, polyuria, polyphagia, thirst, and sudden weight loss in the near future appear, attention should be paid. But at the same time, many early patients with type 2 diabetes do not have obvious symptoms such as polydipsia, polyuria, and polyphagia, and need to undergo physical examinations and blood sugar tests to discover and diagnose type 2 diabetes.

The treatment of diabetes involves many aspects such as diet, exercise, and medication. Wang Guang said that dietary control is the key to the entire treatment plan, and any drug treatment must be combined with dietary management. Type 2 diabetes, especially overweight and obese patients, are in a state of positive energy balance. Due to the decline in β-cell function, patients with advanced diabetes will suffer from a large loss of energy, resulting in weight loss. But in fact, most diabetic patients are still in a situation where energy intake exceeds energy demand, leading to overweight and obesity. Dietary control is essential for most patients with type 2 diabetes.

Regarding dietary control, there are sayings among the people such as "eat less staple food, only eat vegetarian food and coarse grains" and blindly pursue hypoglycemic and sugar-free foods. Wang Guang said that there are certain misunderstandings in such sayings. Coarse grains such as sweet potatoes have a lower proportion of carbohydrates and more fiber, so they have less impact on diabetic patients. However, staple foods such as rice and steamed buns can still be choices on the table of diabetic patients, as long as the intake is in accordance with the basic energy balance point calculated according to the patient's height and weight. Wang Guang emphasized that for overweight patients, this balance point should be appropriately lower than the ordinary standard amount. Under the condition of strict and effective control of intake, coarse grains or fine grains can be eaten by diabetic patients; if the intake is not controlled, only coarse grains or so-called hypoglycemic and sugar-free foods will also cause blood sugar to rise.

Diabetes is accompanied by a series of complications, especially for young diabetic patients, who will have a longer survival time in the future and a higher chance of complications such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, renal insufficiency, uremia, etc., which is more detrimental to their health. Wang Guang said that through strict control of blood sugar, diet and exercise, combined with drug treatment, comprehensive management can delay and reduce the risk of complications.

Nowadays, there are more and more treatments for diabetes, and many new drugs can improve the heart and kidney symptoms of diabetic patients. Wang Guang talked about that in the process of controlling blood sugar, individualized treatment should be used. For young diabetic patients with no history of myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction, the goal is to return his blood sugar to normal, close to the level of ordinary people; for elderly diabetic patients, especially those with complications and a history of myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction, the blood sugar control target does not need to be particularly strict, and it can reach a target value of 7% or even 8%. It can be seen from this that in the process of diabetes treatment and prevention of complications, blood sugar control is not the lower the better, and individual treatment should be targeted so that blood sugar reaches the internationally recommended target value while bringing additional benefits to the heart, kidneys, and cerebrovascular system.

Twenty years ago, the proportion of people with diabetes before the age of 40 in my country was very low. Today, with changes in lifestyle, changes in eating habits, lack of exercise and other problems are becoming more and more common in people's lives, and diabetic patients are showing a trend of getting younger. Relying solely on drug treatment is not the right choice. Diabetes requires patients to fight it for a long time. Lifestyle intervention and dietary control are the key to the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Having good living and eating habits can effectively prevent the occurrence of early type 2 diabetes, and cooperate with drugs during the treatment process to improve symptoms and produce positive effects.

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